The British Computer Society (BCS), the UK’s chartered institute for IT, is to launch a new data center-related qualification for IT professionals. The EU Code of Conduct for Data Centre Operators’ practitioner certificate, currently being piloted in a three-month trial, could soon become an international measure of an IT professional’s understanding of energy efficiency.

The BCS is basing this new qualification on the EU Data Centre Code of Conduct from November 2008.


Newcombe: PUE is not enough

Liam Newcombe, secretary for the BCS Data Centre Specialist Group http://dcsg.bcs.org, says the Code of Conduct will help provide a framework for anyone with ambitions to run an energy-efficient data center.

"There are no metrics with which to measure the efficiency of a data center. Power usage efficiency (PUE) ratings are simply not enough," Newcombe explains.

"We decided to bring in a number of scientists and experts, and boiled down all the essentially good tips – we then separated out all the meaningless rubbish to produce a list of useful actions that can be taken," he says.

Adhere to the code
Out of an original list of 100 actions, the panel edited down the code to a minimum of 40 practices that a data center operator might be expected to meet in order to comply with the code of conduct.

All are free, as the BCS is at pains not to force members to invest money so that they may comply with the code. Newcombe points out, however, that "they all save you money, so if you don’t comply you’re not being very business-efficient".

Once a data center operator has been inspected and their business practices are seen to comply with the code, they will receive certification. Telecity has been the first group to win approval for its data centers. Intel is also seeking recognition for its Eire data centers.

Newcombe explains the reasons why guidance and training are important in this area. "The problem is that most of the parties involved in a data center communicate poorly with each other. So, with the best will in the world, they are unable to operate with maximum efficiency," he says.

Work together
Typically, the mechanical and electrical experts in a data center, who look after the data center building and cooling plant, will be unaware of the nuances of other disciplines.

So a telco, for example, might have the highest levels of resilience and electricity supply (2N power), even for resources such as an email server that is not mission-critical and where delays could be tolerated.

"In this case, companies spend too much money on power that is not entirely necessary," says Newcombe. "This could be avoided if they had a better understanding with the IT department."

Although different departments, such as IT and mechanical and electrical, strive to achieve their best and do a good job, they could achieve more if they had a better understanding of each other’s work.

"In a bank, for example, the IT people will not even know which servers need full support, and which don’t, so they are all treated as an urgent priority," he says.

In the current atmosphere of fear, it is not uncommon for old systems to be kept up and running, at the greatest expense, even though no one uses them – or even knows the passwords to access them – anymore.

"By co-operating, we can make better decisions, based on shared experiences," says Newcombe.

The data center should be recognised as a single system, allied to the objectives of the business. But too often, he says, it is likely to comprise a collective of individual roles. "There is no suggestion that people are not doing their jobs well, it is just that we are moving the goalposts," says Newcombe.

In addition, the BCS is delivering a Foundation in Green IT certificate, designed to help IT professionals and corporations gain an in-depth understanding of the environmental issues associated with IT.

The three-day Foundation in Green IT certificate will be the first of its kind in Europe and the UK. It will provide candidates with a fundamental understanding of the importance of IT when trying to achieve an organisation’s green objective, and the ability to identify and address their own green IT requirements, according to the BCS.

The course outlines the regulations, legislation and policies involved in green IT. Candidates can learn carbon energy accounting and how to create a green IT strategy, business benefits, end-to-end costing, emissions and energy efficiencies, procurement, lifecycle and disposal planning, as well as managing stakeholder relationships and behaviour.

Related Event: DatacenterDynamics London 10th, 11th November 2009
Related News: Nebraska University offers first degree in green data center design
Related News: Internationally recognized Data Center Professional qualification launches at multiple locations across the United States